Gift of the Fishbone
by Punzie the Platypus
Summary: God bless you! That Snoggletog night, Astrid leaves the Great Hall to get some air. Hiccup follows her, and they exchange holiday gifts. Happy Snoggletog and other assorted holidays to everyone! God bless you!


**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own How To Train Your Dragon. Oh, and on a side note, I did the Viking personality quiz from the DVD yesterday and I was Hiccup! *Does little excited dance* Anyway, back to the story, a Snoggletog story!**

It was warm. Deathly warm. Well, outside it wasn't, for out there it was starting to snow like it sometimes does nine months out of the year, but inside, in the Great, or Mead, Hall where the Vikings of Berk were celebrating Snoggletog and the return of their dragons, the great amount of bodies was starting to make Astrid sweat, especially her palm, which held a little brown paper wrapped package.

Pulling on her collar, she stepped around the partying people and down the wooden floors to the grand doors. She placed the palm of her hand against the heavy door, ready to push it, when she looked over her shoulder. Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Snotlout, Fishlegs and Hiccup were all taking up an entire table, which was overflowing with mead mugs and little baby dragons, who were tripping over their tiny little feet.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut were toasting the holiday, sending big drops of mead flying into the air. Fishlegs were cuddling and cooing baby talk to little big-eyed Gronckles. Snotlout was feeding one of Hookfang's children, wary of the fact that the little guy didn't know how to correctly use its turning-body-on-fire powers. Gobber already had to douse the teen with a bucket of water when the baby burned him on the arm.

And then there was Hiccup, helmet on his head and bright smile on his face. Toothless was by his side, stealing little bits of fish from the great platters. Both were extremely happy to be back together again, and their excitement made Astrid smile.

Without a word, she pushed the door open and met the cold fury of winter. She quickly exited the building and closed the heavy door behind her in order to not let any more of the frozen flakes whisk into the Hall.

The bitter wind blew against her and she hugged herself. Despite the cold, it felt good against to the warmth and heat from the Hall. Without a word, her arms went up into the air, dangling in the wind, her eyes closed, lost in a world of wonder.

The breeze bit against her lips, but she didn't care. She opened her eyes and brought her hands down. Oh man. That felt good. After all the sadness of the dragons going away and then all the people being more than slightly upset at her new holiday traditions, she was worry free and she had somehow needed to express her happiness.

She once again wrapped her arms around herself and looked over the village, covered in a sheet of whiteness. Let's face it, Berk wasn't exactly the prettiest of towns. The only thing they had that was very nice was their sunsets, and, as Astrid could now point out, their village with snow topped buildings.

Compared to the loud noises and voices of the Hall, the only sound, the wind, was quiet and soothing. Not many things can be called soothing here in Berk.

With a smile, she stooped down and used her free small hand to shove off the snow collecting on the step. Once clean, she sat down and hugged her knees to herself.

This was a very nice holiday.

Astrid could only slowly rock back and forth on her precarious position, banging into the stone step behind her when she went back. It was so quiet, so devoid of any noise, that Astrid couldn't help but feel startled when a voice above her said, "Do you mind if I sit down?"

Astrid looked up and saw her bangs. With a little snarl to herself, she bent down and wiped them away and looked up again. Hiccup's face was barely visible, for his helmet was pushed over his face by the wind, his freckles and nose had all but disappeared and that was saying something. Hiccup had a lot of freckles, to say the least.

"Sure, sit down," she said pleasantly. He brushed off the cold collecting white stuff and sat down on her right, settling down on the cold step, and was he putting something down on the snow? Astrid shrugged and smiled at him and said, "You might wanna push back your helmet."

Hiccup let out a soft snicker to himself and pushed it back. The two sat down there on the steps that holiday for a few minutes before Hiccup exhaled nervously and turned to Astrid. Her eyes were focused up ahead of them, closing in on the snow covered sea. Her hair whipped about, but she didn't care about it at all. Hiccup wondered if she even noticed.

He propped his head on his arm which was prodding into his knee, and sighed a little. She was beautiful.

His sigh must have made her look at him, because that's what she did. She acquired an odd look and asked, "What are you doing?"

Hiccup then realized what he was doing and stuttered as he held up his hands helplessly. Astrid couldn't help but giggle slightly at his nervousness. One of his many adorable features that can along with being Hiccup.

"I, um, I," his hands started to scramble on the right side of him in the snow. Astrid stretched her neck over as he hastily shoved aside the snow, somewhat panicked.

"Hiccup, what are you doing?" Astrid wondered. He instantly turned to her and said, "Just, wait a minute. Don't look!"

Astrid shrugged and sat back down in her seat as he continued to search for something in the snow.

"Ah-ha!" he said triumphantly. He turned back to her with a smile and said in a calmer voice, "Close your eyes and hold out your hands."

Astrid only looked at him. He gave her a pleading look. With an exaggerated sigh, she closed her eyes and dramatically held out her hands. He was her boyfriend; he should know that she never really dealt well with surprises.

Hiccup smiled and reached next to him. Wiping the gift free of snow, he laid gently, as if it was a baby, into Astrid's small hands.

Astrid felt the gift in her palms, and gave a little jump, for it was cold. Her hands were somewhat outstretched, so she knew it was a bit long, and while one part was smoothed down, the other was freezing cold.

"Okay," Hiccup said excitedly, his hands gesturing, (even though she couldn't see his freckled hands), "now!"

Astrid opened her eyes slowly and looked down at what was in her hands. She couldn't help but gasp in amazement. It was a newly made axe, with a brown handle smoothed down with rock and it was splinter free. All over the handle, the ends and the sides and the straps holding in the blade, there was small intricately carved details, little swirls and dots and magnificent flames. At the top near the blade, there was a small carving of a dragon, and not just any dragon. It was a carving of Stormfly, Astrid's Deadly Nadder.

Astrid gaped at it for a moment before looking back at the boy's face. Despite the fact that his nose and lashes and eyebrows were covered with snowflakes, she could see his smile sticking out like a sore thumb, only unlike a thumb, it was welcome. And perfect.

"Hiccup..." was all that she could say. She felt like Gothi's cat had gone and caught hold of her tongue.

"Yeah, I made it this morning. My dad kind of encouraged to make this holiday a good one, and instead of worrying about Toothless, I decided to make this for you at the forge," Hiccup explained. He sighed and scratched the back of his neck nervously as he quietly added, "Ya know. A labor of love."

Astrid smiled brightly and he turned several shades pinker than he already had been. "Thank you."

He could only smile back.

With a sort of devious and happy smirk, Astrid put her new axe aside and held out the little package in her hand. Hiccup looked first from her to the package. Astrid nodded and tossed it into his lap. He slightly cringed out of instinct and then bend and held it with both hands. With a thoughtful face, he slowly unwrapped the present.

Out of the brown paper and onto his lap fell two little brown squares. Upon closer inspection, the two squares turned out to be two little mittens, knitted out of rough, yet soft yarn. He slipped them on and held them out for both to see, Astrid leaning over his shoulder. Despite Astrid not measuring his hands, they fit snugly, and when he moved his fingers around, they were still swift and nimble under the cloth as they were out.

"How did..." was all that _he _could say. He turned to Astrid, who was giggling and saying, "Maybe I can't cook (you are all less than convincing that you liked my drink, sniff), but I've learned to knit, at least a little bit."

"Astrid," Hiccup said in amazement, "this is more than a little bit!"

"What can I say?" Astrid asked as she leaned against his shoulder, to which he responded by leaning against her gently, "I have a bit of spare time since there's no more dragon training and Gobber gave me an estimate of your hand size."

Hiccup looked at her and said, "Thanks, Astrid." These would help when he went riding on Toothless. The wind got cold a lot around here, especially in the winter, and his weather-beaten hands would often get rough and pink and chapped.

Without a word, Astrid flung her arms around his waist and pulled him tight. Out of habit, Hiccup instantly yelped. He looked down to see her, eyes closed, snuggling against his fur vest. He smiled and wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

"Happy Snoggletog, Astrid," he whispered softly.

Astrid smiled. "Happy Snoggletog, Hiccup."

This was a moment that they both wished would never end.

_"And the only real comforts against the cold are the ones you hold close to your heart._"

**Happy Snoggletog everyone! I hope you like it, and in the spirit of the season, please leave a review!**


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